Certified Translation for Miami, Florida
Apostille Authentications prepares certified translations for people in Miami from $65 per page. Most are finished in 1 to 2 business days. We are not a Miami storefront: the work is done remotely from Lake Oswego, Oregon, in the Portland area, and you send your documents through our quote form. You get the translation back electronically or by mail with a signed certificate of accuracy, and the translator’s statement can be notarized if the receiving office requires it.
Upload your document below as a PDF, JPEG, PNG or Word file, or call (971) 514-3743 for a quote.
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A city where most households speak another language
Census Bureau QuickFacts estimates for 2020 to 2024 put the share of Miami residents age 5 and older who speak a language other than English at home at 77.2 percent, and the foreign-born share at 57.7 percent. The statewide figures are about 32 percent and 23 percent.
The City of Miami’s Language Assistance Plan reports that 33.6 percent of Miami-Dade County’s population speaks English less than very well: about 30 percent are Spanish speakers and about 1.5 percent Haitian Creole speakers. The city makes its vital forms available in Spanish and Creole.
Consulates in Miami and Coral Gables
The Florida Department of State describes the state’s consular corps as one of the largest in the United States, and much of it is in Miami. Its list of consular offices includes, in the city of Miami, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Haiti, Israel, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Italy are listed in neighboring Coral Gables.
Each consulate sets its own rules for translations of Florida documents, and some countries require a translator they have approved. Check the consulate’s requirements before ordering, and tell us which country the document is for.
Miami-Dade records that are often translated or apostilled
- Marriage records. The Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court and Comptroller’s Marriage License Bureau is at Overtown Transit Village South, 601 NW 1 Court, Suite 1900, Miami, FL 33136. A certified copy costs $9, and $7 for each additional copy. Licenses from 1971 onward can be ordered online. Personal checks are not accepted.
- Court and official records. The Clerk also issues certified copies from civil, family, probate and criminal cases and from the official records, online, by mail or in person.
- Birth and death certificates. The Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County issues them at its Downtown, North Dade and West Perrine locations, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with no appointment. A certificate costs $20 and additional copies $16. Births before 1930 and deaths before 2009 are handled by the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Jacksonville. Phone 305-324-2400.
Getting a Florida apostille from Miami
Florida apostilles are issued only by the Department of State, Division of Corporations, in Tallahassee, so from Miami the usual route is mail or courier. Mail goes to Division of Corporations, ATTN: Apostille Section, P.O. Box 6800, Tallahassee, FL 32314-6800. Courier deliveries and walk-ins go to 2415 N. Monroe Street, Suite 810, Tallahassee, FL 32303.
The fee is $10 per document, or $20 for a document certified by a Clerk of Court, which covers a Miami-Dade marriage certificate or court record. Pay by check or money order to the Florida Department of State and enclose the request form and a self-addressed stamped envelope or prepaid air bill. There is no expedited service.
Birth and death certificates must be signed by the State Registrar. The Department does not translate documents and says the translator cannot also be the notary. When a translation needs a Florida apostille, we hire a Florida notary to notarize the translator’s statement; ask us which authentication route applies to your papers.
Courts, interpreters and written translations
Miami-Dade County is served by the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida. Its Family Division sits mainly at the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center, 175 NW 1st Avenue, Miami, FL 33128. The circuit’s translation and interpretation office is in the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, Room 630, 1351 N.W. 12th Street, Miami, FL 33125, phone (305) 548-5352. It supplies interpreters mainly in Spanish and Haitian Creole, with Russian, Portuguese, Mam and Mandarin also named, and asks for 3 business days’ notice for Spanish or Creole.
The court draws a line between interpreters, who handle speech in proceedings, and translators, who work with written text. A foreign-language exhibit is your responsibility to have translated.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida sits at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, 400 North Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33128.
Transcripts at FIU and the University of Miami
Florida International University asks for a certified English translation together with the original-language records, says the translation should be literal and not interpretive, and does not accept a notary public’s certification as an official translation. Transfer and graduate applicants need an evaluation from a NACES member service.
The University of Miami School of Education and Human Development requires professional, certified English translations that supplement, and do not replace, the official documents, plus a course-by-course evaluation with GPA.
Placing an order from Miami
Upload a PDF, JPEG, PNG or Word file through the quote form. Pricing starts at $65 per page and most jobs take 1 to 2 business days. We cover 100 languages, most often Spanish, Russian, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic and Czech; ask if yours is not named.
For immigration filings the certificate meets the wording of 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3): complete, accurate, and signed by a translator competent in both languages. A Florida notary without immigration authority may not advertise as a notario publico, and a notary’s stamp does not make a translation certified. Questions: (971) 514-3743, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Related services for Miami
- Florida document translation services: the statewide rules for courts, notaries, vital records and driver licensing
- Florida apostille service
- All document translation services
Miami translation questions
Any competent translator can certify a translation for USCIS under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3). Apostille Authentications does this remotely for Miami customers from $65 per page, usually in 1 to 2 business days.
No Florida apostille is issued in Miami. The Florida Department of State issues them in Tallahassee, and Miami residents normally send documents by mail or courier with the $10 per document fee.
The Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court and Comptroller charges $9 for the first certified copy of a marriage license and $7 for each additional copy. Orders are taken online, by mail or at 601 NW 1 Court, Suite 1900, Miami.
The Eleventh Judicial Circuit provides spoken language interpreters for court proceedings, mainly in Spanish and Haitian Creole. It distinguishes interpreting from written translation, so parties arrange translations of their own documents.
The Florida Department of State’s consular list includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Haiti, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom in Miami, among others. Several more, including Italy and Ecuador, are in Coral Gables.
Florida International University requires a certified, literal English translation alongside the original records and states that it does not accept notary public certifications as official translations.
Sources
The local details on this page come from these official sources.
- Census QuickFacts: Miami city, Florida
- City of Miami Language Assistance Plan
- Florida Department of State: Consular Offices in Florida
- Miami-Dade Clerk: Marriage License Certified Copies
- Miami-Dade Clerk: Certified Copies
- Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade: Birth Certificates
- Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade: Death Certificates
- Florida Department of State: Apostilles and Notarial Certifications
- Florida Department of State: Accepted Types of Documents
- Eleventh Judicial Circuit: Translation and Interpretation FAQ
- Eleventh Judicial Circuit: Family Division
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida: Miami Courthouses
- FIU Admissions: Submit Documents
- University of Miami SEHD: International Application Process
- Florida Statutes Chapter 117
- 8 CFR 103.2 (eCFR)
Get your Miami translation started
Upload your document for a quote, or call (971) 514-3743 and tell us where the translation is going. We confirm the level of certification you need before any work begins.